


Hideaway

by JSwander, whohatessand



Series: Long Way Home [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Additional Characters to be added, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, But Primarily Bottom Anakin Skywalker and Top Obi-Wan Kenobi, Continuation of Homestead, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Obikin as Dads, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Duel on Mustafar (Star Wars), Slow Burn, Switch Obikin, The Twins - Freeform, Time Skips, Widow Anakin Skywalker, part 2 of a series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:33:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27716849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JSwander/pseuds/JSwander, https://archiveofourown.org/users/whohatessand/pseuds/whohatessand
Summary: After the events of Order 66, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker continue to raise Luke and Leia in hiding from the Empire. As the twins grow older, and the Empire spreads across the galaxy, life only becomes more complicated for the small family.This story is a direct sequel to the fic 'Homestead.'
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Long Way Home [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973965
Comments: 91
Kudos: 343





	1. Year 3

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone and welcome to part 2 of the Long Way Home series! If you have not read [Homestead](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26932882/chapters/65729887), we would sincerely recommend you read that before this fic as most of this will not make sense without it! Part 2 will contain a lot more jumps in time as it is primarily going to focus on Luke and Leia's childhood as a whole as well as Obikin's developing relationship. 
> 
> For reference, this first chapter takes place about two years after the last chapter of Homestead with our loveable disaster dads and their adorable children. 
> 
> We hope you enjoy it!

The first weak rays of morning light filtered in molten gold through the clean windows of the bedroom. 

Obi-Wan stretched his arms up over his head, reveling in the early chill as the heavy quilt was pushed down his chest. 

As a part of their ever-present and ongoing tasks of home improvement, the large bed in the master bedroom had slowly evolved into a terribly warm and comfortable place. The mattress had been replaced, new thick goose-down pillows were added with warm, heavy blankets to keep the heat in. 

More than the rest, however, Obi-Wan’s sleeping experience had been improved by one new feature in particular. 

Anakin wined and grumbled in protest to being jostled. Without waking, his arm snaked across Obi-Wan's bare chest, nuzzling into the precious heat lost with the blankets moved. 

"Anakin, no. I'm getting up now. Shh, no— don't wake up." Obi-Wan carefully extricated himself before Anakin could wriggle in closer and further entangle the two of them. He looked at Obi-Wan with one baleful, sleep-hazed eye. The ringlets of his hair were sleep-mussed, clinging to his forehead and cheekbones. 

Obi-Wan sat at the edge of the bed, watching Anakin give in to the pull of slumber pulling him back down. 

The man’s breathing steadied and evened out. Lips slightly parted, his profile half-lost in the array of soft pillows. 

Obi-Wan tucked the blanket a bit higher around Anakin's shoulders. He knew how Anakin hated to wake up cold.

When he was quite certain that Anakin had dozed off again, Obi-Wan leaned forward, placing a kiss on his forehead before turning away to get dressed. 

Obi-Wan forced himself to squash down a coil of guilt over it.

_They were not supposed to kiss like this._

After changing into pants and a heavy-knit owl-patterned sweater, Obi-Wan headed down into the kitchen. 

He picked up a few toys here and there as he went. He set the timer on the tea to start in twenty minutes and headed out to the porch to his meditation mat. 

By now Obi-Wan had a well-worn routine for the morning, making careful work of the precious few hours that he had to himself before the twins were awake.

This morning, however, Obi-Wan found himself surprised. Halfway through slicing some fruit for breakfast, there was a rapid shuffling of footsteps about the house. Suddenly, a blond whirl hit him hard in the shin. 

"GonnagototheFair!”

"Yes, the fair is today!" Obi-Wan composed himself with some difficulty, scooping up a nearly-four-year-old Luke, balancing him on his hip. "Are you excited to go into town?"

"Yeah!" 

"We need to eat breakfast first though. Why don't you help me? Which fruit are the berries?"

Luke clung to Obi-Wan's shoulder, peering at the array of chopped fruit quite seriously. 

"Blue.”

"Very good! Can you show me?"

Luke reached out in Obi-Wan's arms. A single berry wobbled precariously, before lifting itself up and plopping down unceremoniously into one of the bowls of porridge. 

"Wonderful, Luke! What else would you like for breakfast?"

-

Anakin groaned from all the commotion and talking in the kitchen, pulling the blanket further up his head. That is until small footsteps made their way towards him. 

“Daddy?” Leia looked up at him, a small blanket in hand. 

“Hm?” Anakin sleepily popped an eye open at her, he knew _exactly_ what those pleading brown eyes wanted. “Alright, come on. But only for a little while.” 

Leia giggled before climbing into bed right next to Anakin, snuggled up close. He knew Obi-Wan disapproved when Anakin caved in and let Leia sleep with him, but how was he supposed to say no to that face? 

  
  


A short while later, the bedroom door flew open, with Luke making a flying leap directly onto his father's stomach. 

"Daddy! Breakfast!" Luke bounced on Anakin's chest, before getting promptly tackled into the bed by a joyfully snarling Leia. 

Both twins squealed with mutual delight and rage as they started wrestling one another across the sheets of the bed. 

Obi-Wan appeared in the door with a mug of tea. 

"There's a pot of caf on for you as well." He called out over the din with a bemused smile.

The twins eventually dashed into the kitchen for breakfast. Anakin, however, took a little longer to maneuver himself out from the warm blankets. 

He sat up sleepily, bed hair all askew in different directions. He tugged a shirt on sleepily, glancing up at Obi-Wan with a frown. “You know, it’s not fair for you to wake me up early if you’re the one keeping me up at night.”

"I believe Luke was the one who woke you up," Obi-Wan offered. Down the hall, one could hear C3PO wrangling (with some success) the two toddlers into their chairs to eat. 

"...And I was simply _rising_ to the challenge last night." Obi-Wan crossed his arms with a cocksure grin. "I take it there will be no more questions of stamina then? Unless you think further research is required." He offered with utter aplomb and solemnity.

Anakin cocked an eyebrow up curiously, “You wish.” 

He stretched his limbs for a moment before appearing quickly behind Obi-Wan, arms wrapped tightly around his waist. 

“I’m sure Threepio could distract them for a bit if you want?” Anakin’s voice was low, his lips inching closer to the sensitive skin behind Obi-Wan’s ear. “Or even better, we could ditch the fair and just stay in bed?”

Obi-Wan laughed warmly, his fingers stroked across Anakin knuckles. 

"You're insatiable." He purred, his eyes sliding closed. "Whatever am I going to do with you, dear one?"

“I can think of a few things, but I have a feeling you’re going to insist on this fair so, I guess I’ll save those suggestions for later.” Anakin released his hold on Obi-Wan, fingers slowly brushing past the sides of his hips in a teasing manner. 

“You said pot of caf, right?” 

Anakin called out behind him as he walked towards the kitchen. Breakfast looked great, and he had to admit... Obi-Wan had gotten much better at cooking in the past year.

Obi-Wan exhaled slowly, gathering his nerves as Anakin pulled away, running his hands through his hair. 

How was it possible to be so content, and in utter agony at the same time? 

It had been over three years since the two men first arrived on Alderaan, making a life for themselves in the backwater wilderness of the country. 

It had been two years since they agreed that in their hiding and isolation, there was no reason not to slake their carnal needs against one another, appreciating their mutual attraction and lust.

Obi-Wan's deeper feelings, his love that extended beyond that of a brother or mentor remained — by necessity — a carefully guarded secret to Anakin.

The odd little family sat down for a hectic breakfast (they were still working on enforcing the 'no Force at the table' rule). 

After a frantic scramble of the morning's chores, Anakin headed outside to start up the speeder for the trip into town.

"Don't forget the cider keg!" Obi-Wan called out to Anakin as he headed out. "Greta won't let us hear the end of it if we forget." He helped Luke and Leia do up the buttons of their coats. 

"Now, do you two remember what we talked about?" Obi-Wan asked the two with a kind, but stern look. 

"Say please and thank you!" Luke piped up. 

"Yes, what else?" Obi-Wan asked, tugging a hat onto the boy's mop of cornflower yellow hair. 

"No _Force_ tricks." Leia enunciated carefully.

"That's right, Leia. _No Force tricks._ You remember your promise?"

"We do!" Both twins piped up in unison.

"Can you promise me again?"

"We promise, Papa!" They half-sang in tandem. 

"Good!" Obi-Wan ruffled Leia's hair (careful not to muss up the braids he had spent a decent chunk of the morning battling her into) before ushering them outside to join Anakin at the speeder.

Anakin grunted as he lifted the keg into their speeder, smiling widely when Luke and Leia came running towards him. 

“Can I drive?” Luke held onto Anakin’s leg, his words hardly coming out coherently from excitement. 

“Maybe when you’re a little bit older?” Anakin chuckled, he really wished they had podracing in Alderaan.

" _Much_ older." Obi-Wan clarified, lifting Luke off of Anakin and into the sidecar. 

  
  


-

  
  


The group made the drive into town without much incident. They only had to stop once — Anakin taking Luke off for a quick potty break in some scrubby bushes well off of the side of the road. 

The town was abuzz with noise and color. The celebration of harvest had taken over the town. Flags were strung up between the scattering of buildings, and farmers had a multitude of stands set up showing off the best of their produce. 

Further up the hill closer to the Community Center, additional stalls and booths were set up, selling various treats, showing off livestock as well as a few attractions and small rides for the children of the town. Individuals from all over the countryside had gathered, contributing to an air of joviality about the place. 

Luke and Leia both laughed and craned their heads, trying to get a better look at the view spread out before them. 

"Stay close to us now," Obi-Wan ordered the twins, as he unstrapped them from the speeder. 

There was little need. Suddenly finding themselves surrounded by so many people, the twins' initial excitement quickly dissolved into timid apprehension. Luke and Leia were soon hoisted up onto Anakin and Obi-Wan's shoulders to better stick together. 

Over the course of the morning, the two made their way from stand to stand to take in the sights and the festivities. They played a few games with the twins, earning little bags of sweets or tokens as prizes. 

They stopped off to see Greta and Bruno outside the general store — the kind old woman driven half to tears at finally meeting the adorable children of “Ben” and “Ashmi.”

In time, Obi-Wan and Anakin found themselves up the hill at a paddock set up adjacent to the community center. 

A petting zoo of sorts had been set up, with a little fenced-in and straw-filled area where tame animals were roaming around. A few other children were there as well, offering handfuls of feed to the various furry critters. 

Luke and Leia soon made themselves busy tentatively petting the snout of a grazer calf. 

"They'll be starting school, before long." Obi-Wan leaned against the fence, offering a bag of sweet roasted nuts to Anakin "Five is when they normally start. Some of the mothers were saying it's customary for young children to start earlier in playgroups, to get accustomed to being away from home." 

Watching them now, it wasn't too difficult to see why. Luke and Leia stuck close together, keeping careful distance from the other children.

School was certainly something that had slipped Anakin’s mind. He had never gone to school as a child — of course, he had been taught things here and there from his mother, but that hadn’t exactly been out of the ordinary for children on Tatooine. Schooling was commonplace practice on the Core Worlds, one that hadn’t quite made its way to parts of the Outer Rim. 

It was strange to think that neither himself nor Obi-Wan had ever attended traditional schooling. Obi-Wan was raised as a Jedi and Anakin, a slave. 

“I know,” Anakin frowned deeply, “But couldn’t we teach them everything? It doesn’t feel safe to let them leave our side.” He groused, leaning heavily against the fence.

"Hm," Obi-Wan looked at Anakin with a fond smile. "While there is much we can still teach them, I am afraid there are certain things in this world not even master Yoda would have been able to instruct them on his own," Obi-Wan gestured out to the paddock. 

A little girl in a flower-patterned dress had skipped up to the grazer calf. 

At her approach, Luke had immediately ducked, half-hiding himself behind the flank of the large animal. Leia watched her warily, tense, and apprehensive. 

"The two are going to need to learn how to make friends," Obi-Wan said softly.

"I just wish it wasn't on an Empire occupied planet." Anakin crossed his arms over his chest, carefully holding back a small laugh as Luke hid from the young girl. "I'm not sure who he got the shyness from." Force knows both he _and_ Padmé were quite lively children.

"It's not terribly unusual, for a child his age who has been unexposed to other children," Obi-Wan noted. "It's also nothing to worry about. Once he's interacting with others his own age I'm sure he will blossom, as he does at home." Obi-Wan leaned against Anakin's shoulder in a warm, comforting gesture. 

"Hello, Sirs!" 

Obi-Wan and Anakin glanced up as they were approached by Angelica, the village herbalist. She had a rosy smile, with a pack on her shoulder loaded down with orange-gold blossoms. 

"Ah, is that them - little Luke and Leia? My, aren't they a sight!" She laughed, shuffling around in her bag, producing two of the flowers. "Your boy is the very image of you, Ashmi! You should be proud!" She produced two of the flowers, offering one out to each of them. 

"I've been 'round to half the town so far. This year's effigy will be quite the sight!"

Obi-Wan took the flower with a frozen feeling of horror in his gut. None of it showed on his face, of course — as he accepted the gift with a smile and a polite thanks. 

Like many of the agricultural regions of Alderaan, this one had its own ritual to bless the year's harvest and hope for a bountiful crop next summer. The naissa blossom was one of the last flowering plants of the season. Soft, delicate petals twisted around one another in a way that they said resembled a pair of lips touching. 

It was said that one was to pick the flower and present it to their true love — that this as the final 'harvest' of the season, when done with pure intentions would bear a fruitful spring. 

The implications of which spoke for themselves, and likely was once a useful tradition for rural towns before Alderaan became a more developed planet. 

Now, it was more of a fun tradition of the harvest festival — for lovers or paramours to exchange the blooms and kiss under the effigy — decorating it with the plants until the end of the celebration when it would be lush with them.

Obi-Wan turned to Anakin, with an apologetic sort of half-laugh.

Anakin’s cheeks flushed a stunning scarlet, the color nearly matching that of the rosy flowers in Obi-Wan’s hands. 

“I guess the autumn tradition slipped my mind since we didn’t go to the festival last year.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

Obi-Wan only remained quiet, almost as if he was waiting on Anakin for his decision, watching his reactions intently. 

“Well, we have to, don’t we? We really wouldn’t seem like much of a married couple if we refused to kiss in public?”

It was only _one_ kiss, why did it matter?

Obi-Wan's eyes brightened, a delicate pink graced his cheekbones. He glanced aside to the others Angelica had visited around the animal paddock, other parents decorating their partners with the flowers with gentle laughs and coy smiles. 

"Ah, yes." He righted himself, tucking the yellow flower into the thick woolen cowl Anakin wore. "I... I suppose we should." The cool knuckles of his hand grazed against Anakin's clavicle as he pulled away.

Anakin avoided Obi-Wan’s gaze, the moment between them felt strangely more intimate than any of their previous impassioned nights.

He took one of the small colored flowers and placed it carefully behind Obi-Wan’s ear — the bright blue of the plant matching beautifully with his copper hair (and slight greying of his temples.) 

Anakin sighed to himself. 

It should be _criminal_ how handsome Obi-Wan always was.

Obi-Wan tore away from that soft, gentle moment with a familiar lurch in his chest. He had gotten terribly used to the sensation of squashing down these moments before they could root and take hold in his heart.

With a few lighthearted words about heading to see the food stalls before they ran low on options the twins might like, the two retrieved Luke and Leia and headed off. 

They made their way down the festival grounds. Obi-Wan hauled Leia up to ride on his shoulders as she began to flag in energy — having expended most of it chasing cuckoo hens about the paddock. 

After doing a loop around the food vendors, Luke and Leia picked out a stall that was selling savory pies. The group found a nice secluded spot under a large tree, still clinging to its gold leaves at the lower branches. A cool wind stirred and swept up the warmth of the afternoon, though their hot food and cider kept their fingers and stomachs warm. After finishing their meal, Luke and Leia took to picking clovers around the large trunk of the tree while Obi-Wan and Anakin watched the people mill about the picnic area.

Or rather, pretended _not_ to notice the festival effigy standing at the center of the ring of food stalls in the large field behind the community center. It was already decorated up to the mid-way point with little flowers. During their meal, a fair number of couples had made their way over, kissing beneath it and tucking the flowers into the notches placed around it. 

There was no denying the day was fading, and they were running critically short on things to do to forestall the ritual. 

There was no obligation, of course. Nobody watching them or keeping count. 

They could certainly slip away and leave the flowers discarded, no worse for wear.

Anakin sat relaxed against the tree, his shoulder brushing up against Obi-Wan as they slouched close to one another. 

"For what it's worth, I've always hated traditions like this... Who wants to just sit around and watch people kiss all day?" He scrunched his nose, making a face like a young child forced to watch his parents smack lips together. 

He huffed out a small breath before standing to his feet, wiping the grass from his rear in the most obnoxious way possible. 

"Come on," Anakin smiled gently, holding his hand out for Obi-Wan to take it.

Obi-Wan looked up at Anakin, momentarily dazzled by the late afternoon light shining behind the contour of his form. 

_I will have to beg forgiveness of my heart._

"Yes, alright," He agreed with a blithe smile, taking Anakin's lightly calloused hand. 

They made their way over to the effigy, Luke now riding on Anakin's shoulders, Leia hand-in-hand with Obi-Wan. They stood at the base of the festival monument, the scent of the flowers a rich and honeyed bouquet that furled around them. 

Obi-Wan's fingers brushed against the soft curls of Anakin’s stray hair that had rebelled against attempts to keep it contained. His fingers trailed down to trace the strong line of Anakin's jaw, tipping it towards his. 

The two hadn't really kissed again since that night years ago — _intimacy_ was carefully avoided as they continued to explore their lust with one another. Since then, they had fallen into something comfortable and routine.

_Distant._

Obi-Wan had nearly forgotten how Anakin's lips could taste against his. 

They were warm. He knew they would be.

It was only a short peck — nothing too passionate as they were still in full view of others, but Anakin still felt his heart leap deep within his chest. 

Anakin _hated_ these feelings. 

He was scared of them, scared of where these feelings had previously led him — scared of _himself_. 

He just couldn’t. 

Not after what he had done to Padmé… to the galaxy. 

Anakin wouldn’t lose himself again, _even_ if that meant avoiding his feelings forever. 

When they pulled away, Anakin gave him a tight smile, desperately hiding the unease deep in his soul. 

“Home?” Luke chimed in sleepily from atop Anakin’s shoulder. 

“Sure buddy,” Anakin answered.

"I wanna kiss too!" Leia tugged on Obi-Wan's sleeve, who scooped her up in turn.

"Of course, princess." Obi-Wan hugged her tight, kissing her soundly on the cheek causing her to shriek with delight as his whiskers tickled her face. 

-

The odd family made their way back to the speeder, loading it up with the stuffed lothcat and bag of sweets they had won from various carnival games. Luke and Leia got one piece each as they took off on the long way home. 

By the time they returned, the sun had just finished tipping below the horizon, Luke and Leia both sound asleep strapped into their seats.

The scent of woodsmoke colored the evening air that C3PO would have lit for them before they arrived. 

In the last week or so, Anakin and Obi-Wan had started building up a decent stack of logs for firewood, now piled high next to the loafing shed. Inside, a pair of Endorian goats were settling into sleep for the night. After the initial success of the chicken coop, the goats had been their next venture into the world of agriculture. The animals had proven to be near impossible to work with and now lived a leisurely life roaming in the woods to forage and returning to their shed to sleep at night. 

Anakin and Obi-Wan roused the twins who — with many a yawn and the occasional fuss — were helped along through their nightly routine to change into their nightclothes, brushing their teeth, and into the pair of little twin beds in the nursery. 

Obi-Wan tucked the stuffed loth cat into bed with Luke, pulling the covers up and placing a kiss on his forehead.

"Are you going to finish telling the story?" Luke asked, his eyelids already heavy.

"You two had quite a long day. Don't you think you'd like to wait to hear the rest of the story tomorrow?"

"But how did Anakin and Obi-Wan get out of the gundark nest?" Leia rolled over in bed. "You were gonna tell us the rest tonight."

Anakin chuckled, remembering that particular adventure. He had been only a padawan at the time, and _kriff_... it felt like so long ago. 

“Well, let’s just say that Anakin was Obi-Wan’s knight that day. He always got Obi-Wan out of trouble.” 

It was typically trouble Anakin had _caused_ in the first place, but they didn’t need to know that. 

“Obi-Wan is my favorite in the story.” Luke slurred over the name, struggling to pronounce his father’s true name correctly. Leia only snuggled up in her blanket and nodded quickly. 

“I don’t blame you, he’s a lot of people’s favorite — Anakin really likes him too.”

“Obi-Wan would have gotten into quite a bit of trouble without Anakin.” Obi-Wan agreed, smoothing back Luke’s hair, his voice rich with warmth and fondness.

“They were strong because they worked together, just like you and your sister. Like Ashmi and I do.”

“We know, papa” Leia murred sleepily, nuzzling down into her blanket.

“Of course, princess. Sleep well.” Obi-Wan tucked her in as well, turning on the little cloud-and-star patterned nightlight and joining Anakin out in the hall.

Three years raising two wild toddlers only served to refine the effortless synchronicity of the two ex-warriors. Wordlessly, the two moved through their nighttime chores — putting away laundry, setting out clothing for the next day, a bit of prep for the next day’s breakfast.

“Today was a good day.” Obi-Wan breathed with a smile. 

The two sat outside, wrapped in large quilts and watching the stars while sharing mugs of spiced cider. “Can you believe... soon we’ll have been doing this longer than we were fighting in the war?” He almost whispered it as he spoke, as if cautious to believe he could be permitted such a time of peace.

“Don’t you ever miss it?” Anakin asked quietly, a small frown across his lips. “Maybe not the war... or the death, but being a Jedi — being a Master?” 

Anakin did. 

_He loved his children,_ and he loved being a father. They were the biggest gift he could have ever been given, but it was difficult to pretend he hadn’t once been a proud warrior in the galaxy. It was difficult to ignore that feeling deep within him, crying out that they should be doing... more. 

Of course, they couldn’t, not with children who needed protecting, and certainly not with such a large bounty on their heads. 

Obi-Wan considered Anakin’s fears in silence. He watched the steam curl off of his mug, wafting upwards to the rosy autumn aurora visible only on the clearest nights. The blushed, burnished rosey fire petals licked at the silhouette of the distant mountain, casting a hazy curtain over the stars. 

“I miss our friends,” He agreed at length. “Cody, Rex, Ahsoka. I miss the Jedi.” He closed his eyes, letting himself feel and acknowledge the lingering, aching pain of loss. He embraced it, then let it drift away like smoke up to the night sky.

Even after all these years it still hurt, though it did get easier over time.

“Sometimes I just feel... _antsy_.”

Obi-Wan smirked wryly, taking another sip from his mug.

“Antsy, you say? My, I must have done an unsatisfactory job _wearing you out_ last night after all.”

Anakin blushed, avoiding heavy eye contact and the warm feeling of arousal forming within his gut. 

“You know what I mean, _Master_.” He said lowly, voice grumbling before taking a slow, long sip of his hot cider.

“I know. Possibly more than you can understand.”

To start, he knew that Anakin only called him _Master_ when he was aching for closer contact. 

Obi-Wan shifted, opening his quilt and wrapping his arms around Anakin’s shoulders, allowing him to lie back against his chest. 

“Surviving can be a terribly difficult thing to do.” Obi-Wan’s voice was soothing and low. “But every day spent here is another where Luke and Leia are safe, and away from the Emperor’s notice.”

“One day we won’t have to do this anymore. One day Palpatine _will_ pay for all of this.” Anakin spat his words in a snarl, his nose scrunching up angrily. 

“He’s lucky the twins are too young to be left alone, or I would have killed him already.” He laid his head across Obi-Wan’s lap in a pout, his signature twisting with darkness and anger. 

This always seemed to happen more often than not since they arrived on Alderaan years ago. Anakin still struggled with his anger, and Obi-Wan knew this all too well. While the overwhelming darkness in his presence had been gone for quite a while, Anakin had still not fully returned to the light. 

Obi-Wan was not entirely sure if he ever would. 

“Anakin, let’s not have this conversation again.” Obi-Wan admonished gently, massaging Anakin’s temples in a way he knew could quickly reduce the man’s mind to jelly. Anakin knew this distraction play all too well — however, it never made it any less effective.

“We’ve had it many times before.” He reminded him softly, leaning forward to touch his warm lips to Anakin’s throat. 

“Why don’t we just skip to how it always ends?”

“Of course, Master,” Anakin replied quietly, hand snaking its way atop Obi-Wan’s thigh with a slight squeeze. “I’m sorry.” 

Anakin smirked to himself as he felt Obi-Wan react beneath him, Anakin’s head still remained relaxed atop the man’s lap.

"Don't apologize, dear one—“ Obi-Wan soothed. He pulled Anakin's quilt out on the porch, easing Anakin to lie on his back on it. 

Obi-Wan leaned over him, the blanket over him and under them both creating a bubble of warmth in the cool evening. 

The two fell into one another, well-versed in each other's taste and forms. 

A few choice articles of clothing were cast out from under the pile of blankets onto the dewy grass. 

"I don't want to trap you, Anakin" Obi-Wan breathed, thrusting smoothly inside of him. Anakin arched back, sinking into the feeling with a soft sound of delight. "Or keep you when you might wish to run." He moved, deep and steady, his fingers firm against the strong tendons of Anakin's naked thigh. 

"But I will... as long as you'll let me," Obi-Wan spoke it like a promise, though perhaps it was lost as the stars fogged Anakin's eyes as he mounted toward that crest of high pleasure.

“I don’t,” Anakin groaned loudly, head tilting back in satisfaction, “...I won’t go anywhere, _Obi-Wan_.” 

Anakin wrapped his legs tightly around Obi-Wan’s waist, deepening the angle in which he thrust into Anakin. “Why would I go anywhere when I have you and the twins?”

"Anakin~" Obi-Wan groaned through his teeth, their bond thrummed vibrant and alight with the living energy of the Force as they hurtled toward climax. 

_My Anakin._

-

Later that evening, Obi-Wan sat up even as sleep tugged at him.

Anakin was lying in their bed (when did it become _'their'_ bed, he wondered?) sleeping deep and peaceful. His arms were splayed out over his head, his bare torso still gleaming slightly from exertion, gleaming white under the moonlight. 

For all of Anakin's talk of being restless, Obi-Wan could not recall seeing him as peaceful as he appeared these days. 

It had been months of quiet dreams — as Obi-Wan himself could attest, watching over him. 

Moving slowly, carefully, Obi-Wan reached out, just barely tracing the line of Anakin's full and soft lower lip with his thumb. 

It was nights of peace like this one that made it easy for Obi-Wan to carefully tuck away those forbidden feelings. How could he possibly risk disrupting Anakin's peaceful world — over so silly a thing as his own heart?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Visit [Crys](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/whohatessand) and [Jo](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/jswander) on tumblr! Come send us some asks and yell at us about the story! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	2. Year 4 - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the semi-long break between this chapter, and the last. Finals week and the holidays always make it tougher to get writing done in a timely manner. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Life on Alderaan carried on into a peaceful winter. 

Obi-Wan and Anakin hauled in the last of the vegetables from their small patch of farmland and busied themselves with the work of preserving and canning, as well as salting meat and other game until the cellar pantry was packed full. 

Bales of wrapped hay were brought in from the neighboring farms in exchange for a few kegs of cider (Anakin grumbling all the while about their freeloading goats) and the heat lamps for the cuckoo coop was replaced for the six fat birds that lived there ("the ladies" as Obi-Wan fondly referred to them). 

Obi-Wan taught Luke and Leia how to make bird feeders out of old pinecones found on the forest floor. When the snows came, they made oblong sculptures of one another and had a truly epic snowball fight involving multiple forts and on-and-off days of strategy until a warm spell finally resulted in an overall stalemate as the sleet washed their battlegrounds clean. 

One grey day as winter was waning, the twins got into a fight. 

It wasn't anything terribly unusual — something trivial stoked up due to cabin fever from the poor weather, short days, and long nights. 

In the years to come, Anakin and Obi-Wan would hardly be able to remember what the cause of it was — a stolen doll or someone cheating at one of their many made-up games. 

What they did know was that it sent Luke into a terrible tantrum of newfound proportions. 

The air around them crackled and burned, the air trembled. The Force itself was shaken like icicles off of the branches of old trees. 

By the time Obi-Wan and Anakin discovered the source of the disruption in the Force, there was a metallic shriek and crack as the power generator snapped and its circuits fried. 

"We've put it off long enough," Obi-Wan said to Anakin, hours later, after the damage had been seen to. The four of them were curled up in the main room, against a heartily crackling fire to stave off the chill of the unheated house. The twins were half-lost in a mess of blankets and quilts, sleeping peacefully — entirely unaware that what had happened was in any way unusual (apart from quite the savage scolding they'd received).

“Their power is only going to continue growing. We need to start teaching them how to control it.” 

The two began to iron out a rough curriculum for the twins, focusing on their respective strengths and weaknesses. 

Luke and Leia began to meditate with Obi-Wan in the mornings (more often than not ending up dozing on their mats) and were taken through basic introductory katas with Anakin in the afternoon.  
  
Anakin guided them on how to stretch their arms and their legs, to perform basic tumbles in the grass, and follow simple movements. Anakin threw himself gleefully into the task of setting up rudimentary obstacle courses out in the field - hewing stones and logs from the woods into balance beams, stepping stones, and half a dozen other simple constructs. 

On several nights, Obi-Wan caught Anakin nodding off at the table over crude sketches of other ideas to continue building out what was quickly becoming equal parts training and a playground for the children. 

As winter thawed, the four trooped through long walks in the woods. They inspected bushes and branches with ripening green buds, Obi-Wan encouraging them to feel and embrace the Living Force around them. Understanding it, respecting it. Simple lessons easy for young and knowledge-hungry minds to grasp. 

As expected, Luke and Leia reached out to the Force with open hands and minds. Soon, Obi-Wan and Anakin both found their own bond in the Force intertwined with two new ones — fresh and young and bright.

The twins grew stronger and smarter with each day, they both shone brightly through the force, just as Anakin did. As they grew older, the bedtime stories of _'Anakin and Obi-Wan,'_ were slowly phased out. At four and a half years old, Luke and Leia would begin to question things, stories of the Jedi weren't worth the possible questions which could arise from the twins. 

They would learn the truth about everything one day... the Jedi, the war, Order 66... but that would not be any time soon. 

The secrecy ensured their safety. 

While the twins flourished under their new training, such an important task was not without its occasional points of contention between the two men. 

Anakin and Obi-Wan both had their own strong opinions regarding the curriculum. ("I had a student too, remember? I know what I'm doing, Obi-Wan.") 

It was no secret the former Master and Padawan pair were prone to bickering, they had been since Anakin was a child. However, nothing had been quite the same since Mustafar. The dark, vitriolic being that had woken up in chains that first summer on Alderaan was not gone — and Obi-Wan knew it. Though Anakin’s eyes had faded from gold to blue years ago, there were still occasions of deep frustration or anger where flickers of ochre could be seen. 

On more than one occasion, Obi-Wan convinced himself with ease that it was simply a trick of the light. But deep down, he knew. Anakin may never be the same man he once was, and Obi-Wan accepted this — neither of them were the same any longer. 

Vader was not gone. He was still there, chained in the household. Every now and then shuffling across the attic crawlspace, or banging against old pipes. Rarely enough that he was easy to ignore, especially compared with the mess — the seemingly insurmountable task that it would take to expunge him completely. 

After all, they were only flickers in an otherwise happy enough and peaceful existence. 

One cool afternoon in very early spring was one such day where Anakin and Obi-Wan had one of their squabbles. It was nothing terribly serious — a heated spat over the laundry droid. A simple chore turned into a spat when the two could not reach an agreement over whether they would need to borrow a larger speeder to haul out the required replacement parts. 

When the two could not reach a resolution, it had sent Anakin fuming outside, fists clenched by his side. 

Sometimes, Obi-Wan was still the most frustrating man Anakin had ever met. 

Anakin furiously tinkered with the speeder, a frown tight upon his lips as he sought for any type of distraction. _It was never really about the laundry droid,_ Anakin huffed to himself, hard at work. This was about Obi-Wan still treating him like a helpless Padawan.

"Daddy?" Luke approached the speeder carefully, Anakin popping his head out from the bottom of the speeder with a quiet sigh. 

"You alright buddy? You seem upset." 

"You feel different." Luke bit his lip nervously, hands fidgeting just as Anakin's did when he was anxious — the timid act filled Anakin's heart with concern. 

Anakin stood up from the mossy ground, a soft hand placed upon Luke's shoulder with a loving squeeze. Luke was gifted, Anakin should have known he would be able to sense such strong shifts of emotion. 

Anakin would _never_ intentionally cause Luke or Leia any distress, he loved them more than he could ever express. 

"I'm sorry, Luke. I promise I'm okay, just a little upset earlier, that's all." 

Luke nodded, mollified. 

“You want to help me fix the speeder?” 

Luke nodded again, looking brighter. Anakin grinned in return, already feeling the tightness in his chest loosen somewhat around his son. 

“Great, can you get me the torque wrench?” 

The boy rummaged about in the large tool chest, doing his best to identify the right parts. 

"Papa says you gotta let go of your anger," Luke said, handing Anakin three different wrenches and hoping for the best. 

"Oh?” Anakin said with a sneering chuff of a laugh. “And _when_ did Papa say that?" 

"When we were med-ating." He fumbled over the word. 

_Karking Obi-Wan._

Anakin gripped the tools tightly in frustration, his brow furrowing into a glare as he felt his blood begin to boil. He quickly brought his attention back to the large speeder, muttering under his breath, 

"Well, Papa's head is full of bantha poodoo." 

"-and if you’re angry, it’s gonna lead to _hate and suffering_.”

Anakin froze. 

_Suffering?_

His knuckles turned white from the forceful hold of his fists. 

_How dare Obi-Wan—_

"Luke," Anakin took a deep breath... a false sense of calm masked atop his expression for the sake of his son. Luke didn't know what he was saying — this was entirely about _Obi-Wan_. "Why don't you and your sister play outside for a bit? I need to have a private discussion with Papa."

Luke's eyes went round and wide as saucers. Even without their bonds in the Force, it was clear to the child that his father found Papa's instructions about 'letting go' of anger just as confusing as he did. 

Still, he nodded quickly and darted off. 

Obi-Wan was inside the house, pulling the sheets off of the bed in Anakin's room. Over the winter, they'd grown musty from lack of use and could do with a washing. 

Would it be worth it even to replace them, he wondered?

Over the last few months, the room had become an eclectic halfway-space for things that needed to be put out of the way. Outgrown clothing of the twins in need of recycling, the lighter summertime curtains, a box of old art projects from the twins. 

Considering cleaning the room out was a welcome distraction to Obi-Wan from the morning's argument with Anakin — especially considering how useless it had been.

_Why in the world had we let things get so heated?_

Obi-Wan wondered to himself, bundling up the sheets and adding it to the rest of the laundry. 

He resolved to find a way to make things up to Anakin, perhaps after meditating on the argument a bit further.

That was at least until Obi-Wan picked up on the violently crackling energy of Anakin’s force signature storming back into the house. 

He headed into his former bedroom where Obi-Wan stood with a collection of laundry in hand — Anakin’s arms crossed over his chest and a frown plastered across his mouth. 

“You wanna tell me why Luke just gave me a lecture about letting go of my anger? He sure didn’t learn any of that sithspit from me.” Anakin spat crossly. “ _Sith hells,_ he’s only four years old, Obi-Wan. I thought we agreed on what the twins were going to learn about?”

Obi-Wan gave Anakin a flat look, a single eyebrow twitched upwards. 

"I beg your pardon?" He said, with the tone of someone who hadn't the slightest intention of begging for anything. 

"We _agreed_ that the twins would be taught in the ways of the Force." He rounded to face Anakin. A fluttering of apprehension that he hadn't felt in years stirred inside him. "Mastery over one's feelings is _crucial_ for this. Luke didn't take out our power generator with a lightsaber!" He gestured, setting the laundry back down on the bed.

“It’s not Luke’s fault _you’re_ scared of his power.” Anakin took a step closer to Obi-Wan — a challenge as if questioning Obi-Wan’s authority. “They can both learn to control their abilities another way, and they don’t need _Jedi_ philosophy to do it.” 

The Jedi Order had taken Anakin away from his mother... taken his Padawan away from him... he wouldn’t allow his children to go down the same path.

Obi-Wan took half a step back like a punch in the gut. 

"I am _scared_ for the physical well-being of our appliance droids!" Obi-Wan countered, disbelief sharpening his voice. “I’m _scared_ that if he can do this when he is barely five years old, we may only have a manner of _months_ before the twins could potentially send out ripples in the Force significant enough to draw the attention of the Emperor!”

"Of course I'm teaching them Jedi philosophy — what else in Force's name would I be teaching them?" He half laughed even as he said it, throwing his hands out. 

"I _am_ a Jedi and I'm their father—”

“No, Obi-Wan... _I am their father.”_ Anakin erupted, causing Obi-Wan to freeze on the spot as if run through by Anakin’s lightsaber. “You _don’t_ get to boss me around anymore like I’m some helpless Padawan. The Jedi Order is gone, and you have to accept that whether you want or not.” 

There was a flash of golden yellow in Anakin’s eyes, his words hardly sounding like himself anymore... just as they had on Mustafar

“If Padmé was here, you wouldn’t be involved at all, so _back. off.”_

Even as the words came out, Anakin wasn’t sure what had possessed him to say it — but at that moment he found himself so consumed in his own rage, he would have said _anything_ to hurt Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan stood stunned, the hurt plain and open on his face. 

"I... am well aware," He breathed the words out the lump forming a hard knot in his throat. His fists clenched tight, eyes closed. He took a deep breath, and then another — searching for serenity and finding it nowhere. 

"It would be a very different world if Padme Amidala had not been taken from it."

Anakin glared at him hard, his shoulder shoving past roughly as he began to storm out of the room. Obi-Wan gaped at Anakin as he left, looking partially dumbstruck but the sudden and sheer volatility of the outburst. 

Did Anakin truly feel that way still? After so many years...?

Anakin stormed down the hall, making it halfway to the front door before he managed to charge through his rage to a place of clarity. 

He braced his hands on the balcony banister, feeling a heavy spiral of guilt crash over him. 

Anakin took a few deep breaths, his shoulders heaving as he floundered and grasped for the serenity that continued to slip through his fingers. 

What had he done?

“Obi-Wan!” Anakin called out in alarm, running back inside. It didn’t take long however to tell that Obi-Wan was gone. His cloak and boots were missing from the mudroom, the back door left slightly ajar in his haste. 

The house was devoid of his presence as if the walls had been removed from the frame. 

Anakin crumpled into a kitchen chair, burying his head in his hands, forcing himself to breathe. 

-

“Isn’t Papa going to tuck us in too?” Leia tugged her blanket tightly, Luke’s blue eyes shining bright, close to tears. 

Anakin fidgeted anxiously, unsure of what to say. 

The day had passed tensely. After their argument, Anakin had been left with nothing but his guilt and anxiety dragging time down to a terrible crawl. 

At long last, dusk had made itself known with a terrible sort of finality — plaguing Anakin with increasingly fervent terrors of what might have become of Obi-Wan that he kept shielded only through a massive amount of effort from his children. 

“N-Not tonight, Threepio is going to help you to bed instead.” Anakin ignored their protests, giving each child a kiss on their forehead before meeting the gold protocol droid in the hallway. 

“Keep an eye on them until Obi-Wan comes back, or at least until I can figure where he is.” 

_If he comes back…_

Anakin shook his head quickly. _No_ … Obi-Wan wouldn’t — he couldn’t just leave them.

“Of course, Master Ani.” 3PO hobbled into the twins’ room with R2 trailing close behind, leaving Anakin alone with his panicked thoughts. 

Anakin treaded his way outside to the porch, warily eyeing Obi-Wan’s meditation mat. 

No matter how hard he tried, he hadn’t been able to sense Obi-Wan for _hours_ now. He couldn’t remember the last time Obi-Wan had shielded himself in such a way… not since… well since Mustafar. 

Anakin certainly deserved it, he has said such horrible and hurtful things. 

Toeing off his shoes first, Anakin carefully sat down on the mat, folding his legs and adopting the usual stance. 

He had never been terribly good at this. 

Especially not now, when his feelings were a storm of emotions, himself thrashing about unmoored in the throes of it. 

Anakin groaned in frustration, burying his face within the palm of his hands as he rubbed the dried, crusted tears from his tan cheeks. There was no excuse for his cruel actions and now the only thing Anakin wanted was Obi-Wan. He had always been a safe harbor for Anakin, stabilizing him, keeping him centered and anchored away from the fathomless depths of the Dark Side. 

He never wanted to hurt Obi-Wan, but the lingering shroud of the darkness was still difficult to resist, sending Anakin into a vengeful rage towards anyone who crossed him. Obi-Wan didn’t deserve _that_ , he deserved a life full of those who seek to help him… not hurt, _never_ hurt. 

_Obi-Wan_ who had been there for him since he was only a child. _Obi-Wan_ who continued to stand by him even when Anakin had committed such atrocities. _Obi-Wan_ who helped father his children when they were left with no mother to care for them. 

_Obi-Wan_ who Anakin… who Anakin loved. 

Anakin leaned forward on the mat, half-bowed under the brilliantly burning ache of the epiphany. Something that sounded like a strangled half-sob was pulled out of the back of his throat, a fresh wave of tears fell down his cheeks. 

He’s always loved Obi-Wan, but it was no secret their relationship had changed over the years. What was once a connection between brothers had evolved into something… _more_. 

Obi-Wan spoke of Anakin’s bright presence in the Force, but truthfully, there was none more luminous than the way Anakin felt when Obi-Wan Kenobi walked into a room. 

Anakin had to tell him — even if Obi-Wan never wanted to speak to him again… Anakin _had_ to tell him. 

They had already wasted so much time.

 _Obi-Wan_ … 

Anakin flung his presence out with the Force, channeling the grieving ache and longing to extend his reach across the breadth of the countryside. 

He faltered, several times. Visions of Obi-Wan leaving the planet — leaving _them_ to find comfort in the arms of someone else (who suspiciously resembled Bail Organa). 

What if he had hurt himself out in the wilderness? 

What if he had been apprehended by the Empire?

Heavy drops of dark rain began to patter across the roof of the porch, as Anakin fought to quell the rising tide of panic that crept up the back of his throat. A cold, silver rain had begun to slake its way across the landscape, shivering the new spring leaves. 

It seemed as if an eternity passed before Anakin could feel him again. Nothing more than a small flicker of Obi-Wan’s presence through their bond, but still _him_ nonetheless. The presence came from the woods, and _kriff_ , it was pouring down rain outside, the light continuing to fade. 

_What in the sith hells was Obi-Wan thinking being out in this?_

Without a second thought, Anakin rushed out the door, pulling his coat over his broad shoulders and straight into the freezing water. 

  
  


The woods were quiet in that dusky early evening, the animals holed up for better weather, birds tucked away among the crevasses of the branches. Small gullies carved their way through the underbrush. Each step kicked up the faint scent of the earth mixed with clean rain. 

Anakin followed the soft, flickering trail of Obi-Wan’s force signature further up the mountain. Here, one could see the full rolling and rolling of the clouds overhead, tumbling their way across the hills into the blue distance. Sheets of steel blue pouring over scapes of deep green, nourishing the landscape. 

_Where are you, Obi-Wan?_

-

There was something deeply comforting in the cyclical nature that life replenished itself on planets like this one. Obi-Wan could feel it deep in the roots of the large old tree that housed the old tombstones he and Anakin placed their first year here. 

There was something poetic about meditating before it when he, like the tree, safeguarded a deep and intimate ache deep inside. 

It was easier than to separate himself from it, to feel farther away from the hurt and pain that was his attachment to Anakin Skywalker. It was a simpler practice to feel closer to the Unifying Force of the universe, and further away from his aching heart and slowly freezing, soaking body. 

“Obi-Wan?” 

Anakin approached him quietly, his voice was broken and his blue eyes still bright red from crying. 

“I don’t— I didn’t— I was _so_ scared you had left for good.” 

Obi-Wan kept his head bowed low, water dripping off of his hood and over his eyelashes and cheeks, spilling into his lap. 

"Would you like me to apologize for causing you such pain?" Obi-Wan asked softly, hoarsely.

Anakin looked to the ground in shame, his heart ripped straight from his chest at the sight of Obi-Wan so upset. 

_Anakin had messed up horribly._

“No, of course not. _I’m_ the one who should be apologizing, Obi-Wan.” 

Anakin dug his heels into the ground, grasping tight a young birch sapling beside him. It was all he could do to keep from running to Obi-Wan, begging baldly for forgiveness that he didn’t deserve. 

“I’m so sorry, Obi-Wan.” Anakin’s voice broke as tears welled up at the corner of his eyes, his knees sank to the muddle forest floor. 

“I-I didn’t mean any of it. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but _please_ , I just need you to know I didn’t mean it. Sometimes I just get so angry that I... I don’t know how to control what I’m saying.”

Obi-Wan sighed. A deep, heavy sadness radiating off of him. His head raised imperceptibly. From this angle, he could see the black carved stone sitting among the tree roots — placed there for the fallen Jedi with no symbol to mark them. 

"I don't need your apology," Obi-Wan said tiredly. "I need to know... what you're going to _do_.”

“Anything,” Anakin answered quickly. 

He took a deep breath before sitting criss-cross upon the wet ground behind Obi-Wan, who still has his back to Anakin. 

“Just name it, Obi-Wan. Anything you want — anything I can do to make it up to you, I will.”

Silence stretched between them, the rain a comforting blanket of white noise to soften the harsh silence.

"We didn't solve anything that day," Obi-Wan spoke at last. "That night, years ago, during the storm. Only an unspoken agreement not to speak of it. It was wrong for us to do." He bowed his head, opening and closing his cold-stiffened fingers with some difficulty. 

"We need to... talk. Not fight. Here, twice a week. As many weeks as it takes." 

"And," He continued, doing his best to keep his voice level. "I will — I _must_ continue to train our — to train Luke and Leia to master their emotions." He turned back to face Anakin with an expression weighed down by unfathomable sadness.

"They must grow up to be better than us."

Anakin couldn’t hold Obi-Wan’s gaze for long, not when he had been the cause of such sadness in the older man’s eyes. 

“I guess I’m not really the best role model for them.” Anakin laughed, unsure if it was tears or rain streaking his face now. 

“I-I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Even after years here with you, darkness still clings to me so easily, and I... I just let it.” 

It wasn’t a new feeling for Anakin, he’s struggled with it ever since the death of his mother... when he slaughtered the sand people. 

“I get so worked up, and I lash out at the people I _love_ — like you.”

"I know, Anakin." Obi-Wan bowed his head, the words unspoken clearly readable between them. 

_And it is my failure as your Master that this is so._

The rain continued to fall from the sky, the soft patter of water hitting the leaves filled the wounded silence between them. There was a flushed red color upon Obi-Wan's nose, a clear indicator the man had been outside in the rain far too long for his own good. 

Instinctively, Anakin began to reach his flesh hand up to cup Obi-Wan's chilled skin but stopped just as abruptly. He wouldn't be able to handle the rejection, should Obi-Wan refuse to allow Anakin to touch him. 

"Come back home with me?" Anakin looked at him sadly. "We can talk as much as you want there, but let's get you out of the rain first. I can tell you're cold."

Obi-Wan touched his numbed fingers, blinking slowly. 

"Yes, I suppose so." He agreed, getting stiffly to his feet. He had been sitting there meditating for hours, his joints aching and stiff. 

The walk back down off the mountain was a slow one, with the low light and slick paths and rocks making the terrain treacherous. 

The sun had fully set by the time they returned, Obi-Wan shivering and trembling openly now. His jaw was set tight, stubbornly refusing to let his teeth chatter as he peeled out of his sodden cloak. His clothing underneath was similarly dark and heavy with rain as well, drenched through to the skin.

Anakin watched him carefully, taking the soaked overcoat into his hand before hanging it up to dry. The twins were already fast asleep for the night and the house was silent. 

"You need to get out of those wet clothes. I could start a hot bath... if you want." His voice shook nervously, "I'll...keep my distance from you if that's what will make you happy. I can — I’ll make up the bed in my own room tonight, give you space if you want it…”

Anakin had _never_ begged like this before — never allowed himself to be so openly vulnerable around Obi-Wan. If Obi-Wan hadn't been shielding himself from Anakin so tightly, he would have felt all the affection and _love_ pouring through their bond.

"A bath... would be nice," Obi-Wan said carefully, pulling out of his damp sweater next. 

Obi-Wan entered the water of the large bath with a sigh of relief. While it was still quite tepid, the water burned his frigid skin as he settled in. 

He sighed heavily, already feeling a tightness in his chest. 

_That was a foolish thing for me to do_ , he thought miserably, sinking down to his shoulders in the warm bath. He should have headed back down from the mountain as soon as it had begun raining, rather than letting his misery and self-doubt leave him crippled and stuck in place. 

If Anakin hadn’t come to fetch him, he likely would still be out there now. Obi-Wan closed his eyes, resting his chin on his folded arms over the side of the tub. 

He could feel the man now — pacing just outside the fresher, frantic and listless still. 

Anakin didn’t want to invade Obi-Wan's privacy without permission. 

If Obi-Wan had wanted him there he would have asked for him. 

_But why would Obi-Wan ever want him again now? Obi-Wan would never touch him again._

The thoughts plagued Anakin as he continued to pace. 

  
  


"You can come in, Anakin," Obi-Wan called out, his eyes still closed. The miserable mire of Anakin’s energy in the Force was stifling. 

The young man peeked his head through the door, the rest of him following cautiously.

“I’m sorry... I don’t want to intrude if you don’t want me here. I just—“ 

_I just want to be near you._

The words go unspoken.

"It's alright, Anakin," Obi-Wan said tiredly. "How are the twins? Are they in bed?"

Anakin nodded, “Yes, they fell asleep earlier tonight. I think today might have been emotionally exhausting for them. I have to be better at shielding.” He babbled, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"We'll reassure them in the morning," Obi-Wan murmured. 

The rain continued to lash outside, now soft and muffled against the fresher walls and pattering against the roof. Obi-Wan languished in the feeling of the warmth seeping back into his bones.

Anakin hummed in agreement, the tension between them ripping him to shreds. 

He scooted closer to the bath, sitting upon the edge as he gazed at Obi-Wan regretfully. 

“Can I touch you?” Anakin asked, his flesh hand half-risen — his cheeks pink from embarrassment.

Obi-Wan opened his eyes slightly, tilting his head to the side to fit against Anakin's outstretched hand to wordlessly assent to the contact. 

"You were really afraid I would leave you?" He asked, only just now believing the fears Anakin had expressed in the woods.

“After the way I behaved today? Why would you want anything else to do with me?” 

Anakin would never stop believing Obi-Wan deserved much better than him. 

"Anakin..." Obi-Wan sighed, sounding drained.

"We’ve spoken of this before. I do wish to... be here for you, but... it must be contingent on you wanting me here as well. " He furrowed his brow, choosing his words carefully. "I do not wish for the choice to be me, simply because you might fear being _alone_.”

“That’s what you think?” Anakin shook his head quickly. “This isn’t about being alone, it’s about losing _you_.” 

Anakin leaned forward, the two scarcely a breath away. 

“I love you, Obi-Wan.”

Obi-Wan leaned forward touching his forehead to Anakin's. 

"I know… my dear one."

The atmosphere between the two thawed somewhat after that, though there was still a tentative sort of awkwardness between them. 

Obi-Wan sat awake at night, listening to the rain lash against the windows for hours. 

Anakin loved him. 

Of course, he did. 

The two were so wrapped up in one another's lives — would Anakin even know how to exist without him?

To a desperate and hungry heart, _fear_ could feel very much like love. 

No one knew that better than the one who knew Anakin Skywalker best. 

Obi-Wan fell asleep with a tightness in his chest. 

-

Over the course of the night, that tightness had ripened into a full-blown cold. 

In hindsight, it was a rather obvious direct result of one who spent several hours sitting in the cold and the rain. 

He seized forward, sneezing into a tissue to join the small growing pile in the small wastebasket next to the bed. 

"I must be getting old." Obi-Wan groused, his voice thick and watery. "The cold and damp never affected me quite like his before.

“At least you pull off the grey hairs quite nicely.” Anakin came into the bedroom with a tray and a hot bowl of porridge — topped with honey and fresh berries, just as he liked. It was accompanied by a pot of tea some slices of toast and a little spray of dried flowers from the kitchen sill.

The last element, in particular, betrayed Anakin’s desperation to absolve things with his former Master.

“I’ve got some stock simmering as well, it’ll be ready in a few hours,” Anakin said earnestly, leaning forward a bit. “And I can bring in some medicine from the kitchen when you’re done. It says you’re not supposed to take it on an empty stomach so…”

"Yes, please." Obi-Wan hummed, pinching the bridge of his nose to relieve some of the congestion. "I have to get rid of this headache before the twins are up."

The prospect of getting out of bed was a daunting one when every bone in his body felt like lead and his head was swimming. 

But there was simply too much to get done for the day. In addition to the twins' lessons, the garden needed weeding and tending to if they were going to expand their crops this year (as the twins’ appetites continued to grow in turn).

Not to mention the fencing around the fields would need to be completed in order to keep those blasted wolf-cats out…

Anakin raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think it’s probably best if you stay in bed. I can take care of the twins myself for just one day, I promise nothing will explode.” 

Just as Obi-Wan began to open his mouth, Anakin cut him off with a large smile. “Great! I’m glad you agree, Master. I’ll be back with your medicine.”

Obi-Wan looked up at Anakin, looking tired but wary. He looked back to the breakfast tray, pouring himself a cup of tea. 

Anakin had even selected his favorite mug. 

Out in the hall, Anakin almost immediately found himself confronted with pajama-clad Luke and Leia (the latter still clinging to her cloud-patterned blanket unhappily).

"What's wrong with Papa?" Leia demanded. 

"Is Baba going to die?!"

"What?" Anakin looked at them in complete disbelief, lowering himself down to Luke's height so they could speak face to face. 

" _Of course not._ He just has a cold, just like you did a few months ago when your nose was runny. I promise he'll be better soon."

"No, no this is worse!" Luke's voice was tinny and scratchy, a telltale sign that the boy was likely only a few careful words away from a meltdown. He clung to Anakin's shirt with angry fists, burying his face against his father's side. "It is! It's worse!"

"Luke's tummy hurts when you and Papa get mad!" Leia spoke up suddenly, wringing her blanket in distress. "When Papa left yesterday he stopped playing tag and threw up! Even though he didn't see him go!" 

Luke sobbed into Anakin's shirt, his little body wracked with tremors. 

"What if Papa doesn't get better?" His words are barely distinguishable over tears and phlegm.

Anakin took a deep, long breath. He could handle two toddlers on a brink without Obi-Wan — he _could_ do this. 

“Listen,” Anakin began gently, still kneeling on the floor near Luke and Leia. “I’m sorry Papa and I were fighting earlier, but you two are different from other children. You’re very powerful, and with that power comes a great deal of responsibility to control it. It’s easy to accidentally hurt others with those abilities when you feel upset.”

“I _promise_ Papa is going to get better. Why don’t you check on him yourself?” 

Anakin stood up with a smile before handing the medicine from the kitchen to Leia. “Can you be my big girl and give this to Papa?” 

Leia nodded, tottling off. Luke lingered behind, still tugging miserably on Anakin’s shirt. 

“It... “ His voice warbled dangerously. “It’s my fault.” He hiccupped. “Cause — because I told you about - and -and then you and Papa fought — now he’s sick!”

“Oh, Luke, _no_.” Anakin pulled Luke into a firm embrace, nuzzling into his cornflower hair. “No, never— you were right.” Anakin rasped, whispering into his son’s ear. 

“You _and_ Papa. I got mad and _everyone_ suffered. But I’m going to keep trying, the same as you and your sister do in your lessons.” 

“But you’re a grown-up.” Luke groused, sniffling petulantly. 

Anakin laughed dryly. “Grown-ups have a lot to learn too… don’t tell Papa I told you that.” 

“I won’t, Daddy.” Luke’s arms around him were tight, sounding mollified at last. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Visit [Crys](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/whohatessand) and [Jo](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/jswander) on tumblr! Come send us some asks and yell at us about the story! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Year 4 - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long break in between chapters! Hopefully, we'll be back to a normal posting schedule here soon!
> 
> Thank you for the continued support and hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

As Anakin promised, Obi-Wan's cold faded in a few days. 

During that time, Obi-Wan was pleasantly surprised to find himself wanting for little to nothing, as Anakin took over the gardening, housekeeping, getting the twins up and washed and fed and occupied. He dropped a line to one or two of the villagers from town, letting them know that the repair jobs he had picked up would be delayed by a few days until Ben was back on his feet again. 

Shortly after the call, one of the farmers dropped by with a basket of fresh produce and another with his spouse’s guaranteed cold cure.

To give Obi-Wan extra space to heal — or possibly just to give him extra space — Anakin took up residency in his old room down the hall. 

Soon enough, Obi-Wan was back on his feet, much to the delight of the entire household. 

Anakin had half-hoped that Obi-Wan might have forgotten what he had promised him the evening of their fight. But sure enough, the first fair day after Obi-Wan was well Anakin found him in the kitchen, packing a picnic lunch for the two of them. 

"Threepio is going to watch the children for a few hours.”

“I’ll get our coats.” 

  
  


-

  
  


"Well?" Anakin sat awkwardly at the roots of the Old Oak, watching Obi-Wan with apprehension. 

The two were alone, save for the company of the squirrels and birds and the ghosts that sat silent and monolithic at the roots of the tree. 

The air was crisp and cool, carrying the faint taste of wild mint that had begun to recently bloom. The two would likely return or linger to gather some sprigs for tea before heading back to the house. 

Obi-Wan crossed his legs and closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath. Anakin didn't flinch when he felt Obi-Wan reach out with the Force, their presences touching and twining about one another through their bond. 

Anakin knew it better than most, but what made Obi-Wan so proficient in shielding with the force was not his capacity to hold fast a single, indefensible wall.

There was a reason Soresu was a stance that used a sword, not a shield. The secret to his defense was in layers. Neat and complicated compartmentalization of thoughts and feelings. Things Obi-Wan could even hide from himself if he wanted to. 

In that brief moment of connection, Anakin could nearly see those depths within their bond. Waves upon waves, each curling and spiraling into their own separate currents to dark and untouchable depths.

Obi-Wan was rarely as calm as he ever seemed. 

"What do you want to talk about?" Anakin asked carefully. 

Obi-Wan drew a deep breath. Without either man realizing it, the two drew it in tandem. 

"Perhaps... we should start with these force visions you were having of Padmé. When did they start?"

“Well… it didn’t start with Padmé. It started with my mother…”

The conversations were not easy. 

On more than one of those hard days, they ended with the two of them on opposite ends of the clearing in terse, angry silence. Or tears. Or rage. 

But no matter how bad it got, the two always made peace before they left the mountain. 

The long, painful ordeal of talking everything through didn't change much. Nothing in the way that mattered. No amount of talking was going to bring back Padmé, or the Jedi. 

But in other ways, slowly and steadily — it got better. 

The secrets between them were bled dry, drained, and finally allowed to scab over. 

Through their strengthening bond in the Force they saw the lives they led through one another's eyes. 

Obi-Wan waded through the anxiety and dread of a young boy losing his mother — the rage and the suffering and the loss. 

Anakin experienced the hot lance of suffering that was the moment Obi-Wan saw his Padawan bow before his enemy and declared him Master.

Anakin curled up with his head in Obi-Wan's lap under the great green boughs of the old tree. Obi-Wan watched the dappled canopy and struggled to comprehend the ceaseless tide of blazing light that was to love someone like Padme as fiercely and ravenously as Anakin Skywalker. Visions of the sunset over the Lake District in Naboo. Years of terrifying, beautiful secrecy in his matrimony. 

Loving someone so much, unable to utter a word. 

It was simple and grand, and terrifying as he could be. 

  
  


················•·················

  
  


Just as they left their struggles on the mountain, life continued on in the valley. 

"I arranged in town for the school transport to come by our house starting from next month," Obi-Wan told Anakin. The two were working in the vegetable patch, pulling up weeds out of the ground, softened by an earlier rain.

"Ah, the morrow root is nearly ready for harvesting, wonderful." He noted, inspecting the broad leaves. Over the top of them, he saw Anakin go rigid and tense at the mention of schooling again. 

What would the house even be like, without the ever-present energy of Luke and Leia running about?

Anakin sat up, wringing the weed he had just pulled out of the ground in a bid to hide his anxiety. 

“I know you’re worried about them being so far from home,” Obi-Wan soothed. Anakin was projecting his worry so readily he may as well have shouted it. “But it is very normal for children raised in the Core Worlds to attend a local school. Luke and Leia may not want to grow up to be farmers. This will give them far more opportunities.”

“I know that,” Anakin said, flinching away from the terrifying notion that was Luke and Leia one day growing up. He smiled tersely, returning to his weeding. “And we… had schools on the Outer Rim too.”

“Is that so?”

“Not so much on Tatooine.” Anakin continued, busily shredding the invasive plants. “I ah, I had one friend growing up. Nuubi, he hung out with a bunch of us, even though his parents were traders that did work with the Hutts. When we were a little older he left to go attend some boarding school on Pogia-3.” Anakin’s smile grew thin. “He didn’t want to hang out with us much anymore when he came back to visit.”

“Oh, Anakin,” Obi-Wan sat up. “Are you worried Luke and Leia won’t—”

“I’m not worried they won’t like me anymore!” Anakin bristled, reminding Obi-Wan endearingly of a startled angry loth cat. “I just.. I’m wary about them learning the types of things this _Empire_ is going to want to teach him.”

“Hm, now that _is_ a valid concern.” Obi-Wan conceded, moving on to the next furrow. “We’ll have to be mindful of what sort of things they come back knowing. It’s not unusual for families in rural towns like these to opt away from traditional schooling if need be.” Obi-Wan gave Anakin a long, considering look. 

“What do you propose, Anakin?”

In the last few years, the Empire's presence across the galaxy had only grown, especially in the core planets. It was only a matter of time before the Empire’s influence seeped out of the large cities and metropolises of Alderaan into smaller, less significant countries and towns such as their own.

Not to mention, the twin's powers only continued to grow. The bounty for any Jedi was large. No matter how kind their neighbors may seem now... it was difficult to imagine they would remain loyal if they knew who Obi-Wan and Anakin really were. Not to mention how it would appear for Breha and Bail Organa that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker had been hiding out on his planet all this time. 

_Everything_ could go wrong.

But at the same time, Anakin knew keeping the twins locked up here in this perfect hideaway they created for themselves would be wrong. 

"We should do something special for the twins. Before… they start their schooling." Anakin looked across the field to where the two were chasing crickets in the tall grass. 

Obi-Wan’s shoulders relaxed, very slightly.

"The Brixi star shower will be passing overhead in the next few days," Obi-Wan suggested carefully, sitting up. "We could hike to the lake at the top of the mountain and camp there overnight. The view would be marvelous, I'd imagine." He dusted the soil off of his gloved hands.

"It'd give us enough time to go into town to see about borrowing a tent. We can get the last of the supplies the twins will need for them to start school."

It would mean a few more outfits for each of them, at least. Perhaps new shoes as well. The twins grew just as fast as the weeds in their vegetable patch.

“We can go into town once we finish here, Master.” The old term of endearment rolled from Anakin’s tongue far more readily recently. Their repeated meeting by the tree certainly felt like old times.

Obi-Wan hummed in agreement, the honorific not lost on him. 

As always, Obi-Wan found himself inclined to be a bit closer to Anakin when he used it, finding opportunities to brace his shoulder or brush his fingertips against Anakin's wrist — both during their gardening and the trip into the village. 

He wasn't quite sure who was responding to who — whether Anakin had him well trained and responsive to when he needed a bit more affection, or Obi-Wan had his former padawan falling back into comfortable terminology rewarded with warmth. 

Obi-Wan stood and pulled off his gloves, placing a heavy, clean hand on the back of Anakin’s neck. He bowed his head forward, eyes sliding half-shut. 

“They’ll be alright, Anakin,” Obi-Wan promised lowly. “We won’t let anything happen to them.”

Anakin leaned to the side, bracing his head and shoulder against Obi-Wan’s thigh. 

“Master,” The word slipped out before he could stop it, the low and needy husk to his voice. The conversation had left Anakin feeling drained. 

A peal of laughter from the twins jerked them out of the moment. Luke and Leia had spotted the goats, now giving them chase to the far end of the field. 

Obi-Wan watched them go with a soft chuckle, moving his hand up to ruffle Anakin’s hair affectionately. 

“Well, one thing is for sure.” He laughed. “Having the twins out of the house more will make _certain things_ much easier.”

  
  


-

  
  


On the day of their camping trip, Anakin and Obi-Wan woke up Luke and Leia early. They took the twins through their paces, getting the sleepy children dressed in coats and boots and hats. 

The early morning was brisk with a shivering mist, cool and gold-tinted from the sunrise. In a few hours, it would warm up to be a beautiful day. 

Over the years, the woods and the mountain had become as familiar to the small family as their own backyard. 

Luke and Leia trotted along ahead, pointing out animal dens and fallen logs that marked their place in the woods. Turn left at the old rotting stump to get to the wild berry thickets, right at the mossy twin boulders to reach the creek where the tadpoles spawned in the spring.

The children picked out and compared walking sticks among the bramble — and made it an admirable length of time before inevitably trying to whack one another with them.

The sun was high when the four stopped for lunch in a clearing, sharing the packed boxes that Obi-Wan had prepared the night before. Anakin and Obi-Wan sat on a flat and level rock, watching Luke and Leia practicing the stances that Anakin had been teaching them, wielding their 'walking sticks' as training swords. 

"The terrain up here would be a good environment for them to practice sokan." Obi-Wan noted thoughtfully. 

In the long run, he knew that there was no true practical reason for them to learn lightsaber stances. If anything, it would probably do them more harm than good to be familiar with traditional Jedi forms. But seeing their children running about, training like younglings in the Jedi temple made his heart feel full and warm 

"They're learning quickly. You're doing an excellent job with them, Anakin." Obi-Wan praised softly, looking over at him.

Anakin turned to meet Obi-Wan’s gaze with a puzzled smirk. 

“You’re in an awfully good mood, I didn’t know you enjoyed camping this much?”

"Simply savoring the day. You’re not the only one who will miss having the twins around all day."

Truth be told, Obi-Wan wasn't sure what exactly had him in such a good mood. By rights, he should still be cross — or at the very least wary — of Anakin since their fallout at the start of the summer. But now the season was winding down. Though there was still plenty of warmth in the air, the tops of the trees were just beginning to cool over orange and red and gold.

It was one of Obi-Wan's favorite times of the year. 

With the changing of the seasons, so too had his disposition toward Anakin began to change. Their talks were long and hard. But a tightness in his chest was beginning to loosen. Some low-level ache so omnipresent over the years Obi-Wan had simply come to accept it as a part of his being. 

There was a lightness — a space inside him that he could feel opening up as the anxiety began to bleed away. 

What would be left — he wondered, when the sadness was gone?

  
  


-

  
  


The troupe continued on, finding paths among the branches and bramble of the woods. 

The mountain was sloping more distinctly upwards now. There was less chatter between them, Luke and Leia taking intermittent breaks to ride on their father’s shoulders.

An hour after the sun crested its zenith, the path opened up past a final scramble of rocks up to the top of the mountain. A strong gust of cool, clean air greeted them that swept unencumbered over the rolling hills at the mountain's plateau. The sky stretched edge to edge, with rolling tumbles of white clouds on the horizon before flawless blue skies. The reflection of the sky was mirrored against the rippling expanse of a large lake that sat in a shallow, natural dell. 

"I don't recall the hike taking quite that long before." Obi-Wan laughed breathlessly, as the twins ran ahead, throwing off their shoes and splashing ankle-deep into the cool water — shrieking with laughter all the way. The day had grown warm, and the cold water was inviting. 

"Hey, careful!” Anakin called out, running after them. “Don’t trip, you’ll get your clothes wet!”

He rushed ahead towards the twins, though in haste his boot caught the slipper ground beneath them, causing him to lose balance in the ankle-deep water. 

Obi-Wan caught Anakin's wrist, smoothly pulling the man around and into the crook of his arm — pulling him flush against his warm and stable body.

It was easy to do.

Even without the additional agility and grace provided by the Force, Obi-Wan had come to know Anakin so well on this mountain. The weight of his body, the curve of his muscle, and the way that he moved. It was scarcely any different from catching himself.

“Uh, hey.” Anakin laughed, looking slightly pink.

"You're getting clumsy in your old age." Obi-Wan teased. The ripples in the clean water danced brightly across his profile as he smiled down at Anakin. His eyes flicked from Anakin's own, down to his mouth.

”My old age?” Anakin scoffed, “You’re one to talk.” 

He laughed softly, running his fingers over Obi-Wan’s temple where the small patches of grey hairs began to sprout. Anakin had heard countless times how he had single-handedly given Obi-Wan his grey hairs, but he found he quite liked them. It gave him a distinguished air. 

His eyes flicked from Obi-Wan’s face, down to his lips.

"Daddy tripped!" Leia laughed. Luke joined in, the two rounding on their fathers to throw and splash cold lake water over them.

Obi-Wan laughed. Without a thought, and with a movement as natural as breathing he shifted and turned, positing Anakin halfway behind him to protect him from the brunt of the attack. Not entirely behind him — but close at his side. Trusting him as an equal in battle. 

With a wave and a flick of his wrist, Obi-Wan summoned a small wave of water from the surface of the lake, rising up to splash both of the twins up to their shins. Leia bit her lip, throwing both arms out, and managed to scatter the water up into the air like fine mist through the Force. Luke, however, ended up getting soundly splashed up to his knees. 

"That's not fair!" Luke protested, looking aghast — a split second before it turned into righteous fury. With a shout, the boy charged forward through the water in a bid to tackle Obi-Wan around the middle.

With a playful roar, Anakin lunged between them, grabbing Luke around the waist in a fast hug, spinning him about so the boy’s toes skidded along the surface of the water, sending water flying in a wide arc. 

  
  


-

Considering all four of them wasted no time at all in thoroughly soaking their clothing, the group quickly changed and gathered armfuls of firewood — enough for Anakin to light a quick fire so they could change into dry things and leave their wet clothing spread out to dry on the grass under the sun. 

Their borrowed tent was a slightly different make to the Republic military-grade things that Obi-Wan and Anakin had set up a number of times in the past, but they made quick work of sorting it out. They picked out an elevated stretch of flat grass and spread the tarp first to keep the ground dry, then set the poles and the pegs. 

After their long hike, Luke and Leia immediately curled up inside and passed out for a nap. 

Though they had packed plenty of food, Obi-Wan broke out the fishing poles for the two of them. 

“It’d be easier just to use the force if we wanted to catch fish.” Anakin groused, managing to cast a line after a bit of effort. “I use it all the time when bringing in game from the woods.”

“Every now and then, it's worth reminding ourselves that we _are_ trying to keep a low profile.”

Still, Obi-Wan couldn’t deny that the extra game that Anakin brought in had helped stretch their funds out significantly over the years, especially as the twins started to develop more voracious appetites. 

The twins woke a few hours before dinner, enough time to take a walk around the circumference of the lake, picking flowers and pointing out animal tracks with Obi-Wan while Anakin scaled and cleaned the large lake trout he had managed to catch.

After dinner, they baked apples in the goals of the low-burning fire as the sun slowly set. 

Full and warm and content, the group played one of their many games together where they each took turns telling parts of a single story. 

-

The family sat on the side of the hill, sharing three blankets between Obi-Wan and Anakin, with Luke and Leia tucked warmly in between them. 

The twins pointed out the shooting stars as they zipped across the sky, trying to out-count the other. 

However, it had been a long day for the children — who were very full and warm and comfortable. Despite their nap, the two were soon curled up in the folds of the blanket. Luke hugged Obi-Wan around the middle, while Leia held two of Anakin’s fingers as she slept. 

“You know what this reminds me of?” Anakin asked, watching the bright sky. 

“That second mission on Ryloth?” 

“Yeah.” Anakin grinned, shuffling a bit in their cocoon a bit. “That was some night.”

Thanks to some last-minute stolen plans, a well-placed bit of malicious code from R2-D2, and a whole lot of brass, Anakin and Obi-Wan had managed to successfully disrupt the relay system at the communications base.

As a result, the 501st and 212nd were able to cleanly obliterate the attack fleet in orbit above the planet in a hard-won but decisive victory. 

While waiting for a transport to pick them up, Anakin and Obi-Wan had sat together — quite like this — on the large hangar bay of the cleared out base watching the enemy ships burn as their detritus soared flaming through the stratosphere. 

“Though, I guess this isn’t quite the same.” Anakin laughed. “This isn’t the flaming wreckage of half a dozen Separatist ships.”

“No,” Obi-Wan chuckled. “If I recall correctly it's the remnants of the Brixi-246 Class 4 asteroid. It entered Alderaan’s orbit path, and they requested the Republic demolish it before it could strike any of the major cities.”

“Not quite as romantic.” Anakin agreed dryly.

“No, but it is beautiful,” Obi-Wan said softly. Anakin glanced over to him, just long enough to see that Obi-Wan wasn’t looking at the sky at all. 

The two men quickly looked away from one another. Anakin petted Leia’s head a bit where she lay between them, something warm blooming in his chest — filling him up to his fingers and toes. 

“When did you first know that you loved me?” Anakin asked, his eyes carefully trained on the star-filled sky. 

It only took Obi-Wan a few beats to answer, though each silent one rang loud and heavy in Anakin’s chest and his ears. 

“I have always loved you, Anakin.” Obi-Wan was astonished at how easy it was to say. 

“So, I’m afraid you’ll need to be a bit more specific than that.”

“...When did you realize you loved me as a padawan?” Anakin clarified. 

“...That mission we had on Vandor,” Obi-Wan said thickly. “You convinced me to spend an hour sledding with the natives before going back to Coruscant.”

Anakin chuckled from the memory. He remembered Obi-Wan being in such a fuss over a thrown snowball. “It was the first time you ever did anything fun with me.”

“It was the first time I felt like… like myself again. Before losing Qui-Gon.” Obi-Wan closed his eyes. 

Anakin leaned forward in the grass. He didn’t want this to be about Qui-Gon — it would only further upset Obi-Wan. He pushed again.

“When did you realize you loved me as a brother?”

“On Geonosis,” Obi-Wan answered, without hesitation. “When I told you I needed you to face Dooku. Then you stayed with me, and I realized, there wasn’t a single Jedi I would have picked in your place to fight at my side.”

“I don’t know about that,” Anakin grinned, rubbing his prosthetic arm. “I’d bet my right arm Yoda might have been a better choice.”

“Yes! Not our proudest moment.” Obi-Wan laughed. “Still, I would think—“

“When did you realize you loved me...” Anakin interrupted, then realized all at once he was entirely at a loss on how to say it. “Love me as, love me like—“

The stars flew by in the tense, dark quiet. 

Looking away from the bright sky, Anakin could barely see more than Obi-Wan’s silhouette in the dark. He had to strain his eyes to see him move and close the final distance between them. 

His lips were warm. 

“—Love me,” Anakin tried to continue, breathless. A hand cupped his cheek, guiding him into another bright kiss. “Love me,” Anakin panted. 

And then another, “ _You_ _love me_ ,” 

and again. 

“I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Visit [Crys](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/whohatessand) and [Jo](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/jswander) on tumblr! Come send us some asks and yell at us about the story! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. As Time Goes By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who left such kind, encouraging comments! And thank you for bearing with us on the recent hiatus, we hope you enjoy the new update <3!

Their confession under the stars changed everything — though nearly every facet of their lives remained the same. 

The family did their chores, the sun rose and set over the old mountain. The goats remained ornery and wanted nothing to do with them. Luke caught up with Leia in mastering the art of tying shoelaces as well as coat buttons and zippers. They collected chicken eggs and harvested vegetables, beat back the encroaching bramble of the forest and stockpiled firewood among a dozen other late-summer chores. 

But now, Obi-Wan woke up to the honey-sweet taste of Anakin’s lips against his own. 

Obi-Wan sighed into the kiss, nestling back against the pillows as Anakin nipped at his mouth, kissing his way inside.

 _Force_ , he couldn’t even bring himself to mind Anakin’s morning breath. 

He ran his hands through the soft curls of Anakin’s hair, relishing the feel of Anakin’s warm, bare skin shifting and kicked the sheets aside until it was flush against his own. 

“I love you,” Anakin murmured, for the upteenth time, pressing warm kisses down his neck. 

“I know.”

  
“ _Obi-Wan,_ ” Anakin pined, rolling his hips against him. His morning wood was hard and insistent against Obi-Wan’s thigh. 

“I love you too, Anakin.” Obi-Wan laughed. His hand slid down Anakin’s back, thumbing the sharp curve of his hipbone before slipping under the taut fabric of his underwear, freeing his thick cock, warm like hot silk in his palm. 

Anakin purred, nuzzling into Obi-Wan’s neck. His hips rolled and stuttered lazily as Obi-Wan pumped him unhurriedly. 

“Say it again.”

“I love you.”

Anakin shuddered, thick precome beaded out of his tip. The two men shifted, Obi-Wan pulled himself out of his briefs so he could press his cock against Anakin’s. The two groaned against one another’s lips, slick and warm and content, thrumming with heady waves of pleasure. 

“Mm, Obi-Wan,” Anakin murmured, sucking kisses onto the man’s collarbone. “Let me ride you. Can I?” 

“We don’t have time, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said softly, jerking the both of them a little faster. Anakin half-snarled, half-sobbed into Obi-Wan’s shoulder as he was driven toward orgasm. 

“But, I want - oh, ah—“

“Later, I promise.”

His hips jerked once, twice, and spilled hot and thick over Obi-Wan’s stomach, who followed quickly after, their spend mingling across his abdomen. 

Anakin laughed breathily, nuzzling his forehead against Obi-Wan’s own. 

“Good morning, indeed.”

  
  


-

  
  


“Do you remember your promise?” 

_"Papa_ ” Leia did an exaggerated roll of her eyes, wringing the strap of her bag. “We’re not _babies_ anymore.”

Obi-Wan crouched in the gravel driveway of their house. The town’s beaten-up old school shuttle had added their property to its route to bring the children down to school each day. 

He smiled patiently, holding their lunch boxes in hand. 

“What do you promise?”

Leia sighed, looking to Luke — who was shuffling about nervously, in contrast to Leia’s excited bouncing. The two looked back to their fathers.

" _No Force tricks_.” They repeated in unison. Leia, stating her promise as aggressively bland as possible for good measure. 

“Excellent.” He handed them their lunches, which were quickly stashed away. 

Anakin stood quietly against the front door as Obi-Wan finished, looking dangerously misty-eyed. The bliss of their early morning activities seemed terribly far away now. 

_Kriff_ , they would be back later today, why was he getting so emotional? 

They would be okay, Anakin had to believe that — for his own sanity. 

Anakin paced forward, moving to kneel down in front of the twins with one hand placed gently on each child’s shoulder. 

“I love you both so much, okay? The day will go by fast, promise.”

"Daddy, why are you scared?" Luke grabbed Anakin gently by the collar of his shirt. 

"Daddy isn't scared of anything!" Leia retorted.

"No, he's _proud_ of you. We both are." Obi-Wan said, drawing Luke into a tight hug. He could hear the transport speeder winding around the path to their house now. 

"You're growing up so fast." He whispered, closing his eyes tight — immersing himself in their presence in the force. Glowing bright, clean, and strong. 

  
  


-

  
  


When the transport finally arrived to take the twins, Anakin hardly knew what to do with himself. It seemed in a flash, _they were gone._

_They'll be back,_ He just had to keep reminding himself of this. 

Without another word to Obi-Wan, Anakin trudged his way back inside the house. He threw himself down upon seating, his head buried in his hands.

Solid arms slid around Anakin's shoulders. He was pulled back into Obi-Wan's warm embrace.

"Four years." He nuzzled into Anakin's neck, sounding dazed. "It hardly seems like a day." He held Anakin a bit tighter, edging on something like desperation. 

The twins were gone, but Anakin was still here - anchoring him as he always had. 

"They'll be back soon, Anakin," Obi-Wan promised, his lips on Anakin's neck. “They were fine when we went down to meet their teacher last week. They know to go to Greta’s house and call us if anything goes wrong.”

He silenced a questioning, alarming sound from Anakin with a tight squeeze and another kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“ _Nothing_ will go wrong.”

It had been a few weeks now, since their kiss on the mountaintop. Obi-Wan had scarcely been able to keep himself from stopping. 

How had it taken them so long to become so close?

“I know they will, but it will take some time to get used to the change.” Anakin smiled to himself, the soft brush of Obi-Wan’s lips upon his skin. 

“But... At least now we may actually get to spend some time together. Just the two of us, like old times.” 

He stood up, turning to face Obi-Wan directly. 

“Well, I guess it's a little different from old times.”

"Hm, perhaps we should see." Obi-Wan considered thoughtfully. "It's been a while since the two of us have sparred. I would be curious to see where we stand these days." 

He didn't quite think that the instructional lessons with the twins counted, especially since they were still more focused on building motor skills. The two would need to get a bit older before they were ready to really refine and dig their heels into proper swordplay. 

The dishes from breakfast were soaking in the sink. The two typically started their chores for the day around this time, but suddenly the day felt wide and open. Obi-Wan's body suddenly itched for a challenge.

Anakin raised an eyebrow. That was... not where he saw this going. 

"You want to spar together? If you insist... Master." 

The honorific rolled off his tongue slowly, with a happy smirk upon his lips. If Obi-Wan was insistent on sparring, Anakin was at least going to have some fun with it.

Obi-Wan did a double-take, watching Anakin get up and head outside. 

He wasn't sure he'd ever heard Anakin use the term that way before, outside of his guiltier fantasies at least. 

Well, if it was a tactic to throw him off he wasn't going to let it get to his head. 

Anakin had carved training swords for the two of them a few months back, as a way to demonstrate stances to the twins. Obi-Wan retrieved them from the back of the shed, tossing one to Anakin as he rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms. 

They weren't stiff — the two had hardly been sedentary during their time on the mountain. But the weight of the weapon felt awkward in his hand, where before it had felt more like an extension of himself. 

He squared away against Anakin on the field, his body sliding naturally into the pose for Soresu in an invitation for Anakin to try and strike.

Obi-Wan was pleased to find that his muscle memory still held good form over the years, though it was clear to see where he and Anakin both had slipped. 

They went through their paces at half-time. Obi-Wan could practically taste the frustration roiling off of Anakin — every instinct in his body urging him to fly into the attack, only to find his precision lacking and his form out of sync. 

"You're doing well, don't give up!"

"Don't patronize me!" Anakin laughed, his lips twisted into a dangerous half-sneer. 

Obi-Wan's grasp of Soresu had degraded as well — Anakin managed to get a few well-placed knocks in at key intervals. He could tell that Anakin's frustrations rose not from his ability to out-pace Obi-Wan, but to keep pace with General Anakin Skywalker from the long-ended clone wars. 

The Force gave Obi-Wan a gentle nudge of alarm when his adversary finally threw aside his training sword in a fit of frustration, chucking it close enough to Obi-Wan's head that he was forced to knock it away and dodge. The action left him unguarded, with a pair of arms flung around his middle, knocking both of them down together into the tall grass. 

"I won!"

"You did no such thing!" Obi-Wan laughed, feeling warm hands push busily under his shirt — calloused fingertips tracing the lines of sensitive abdominal muscles. "If this was a real lightsaber battle, you couldn't — Anakin!" Obi-Wan yelped in alarm as a knee slid up between his legs, decidedly nudging him. Obi-Wan twisted, shifting the two of them so it was Anakin sprawled out on the grass beneath him, looking the furthest thing from apologetic where he lay bracketed between Obi-Wan's thighs.

Anakin’s expression softened, holding his arms up over his head to assist Obi-Wan in tugging the garment off and throwing it aside on the grass. Warm afternoon air, heavy with the scent of sunshine, ran cool down his sweat-dampened chest. He watched with hungry eyes as Obi-Wan shrugged out of his as well. 

The two fell into one another, as smooth and natural as breathing. 

  
  


················•·················

  
  


With the children off at school, the family shifted into a new sort of routine. 

Anakin spent more time taking on repair jobs.

Obi-Wan chanced setting up a holonet hookup to the house so he could take on a freelance job doing editorial work for an archive in one of the nearby cities. It was more to put his busy mind at work, as well as an opportunity to keep an eye on any changes or interference from the Empire. 

After an anxious start in school, Luke and Leia blossomed. 

They took to their studies and began to develop different interests. Obi-Wan downloaded maps of the planet and nearby star systems for Leia, helping her build diagrams and models from clay and paper paste while Anakin showed Luke how different parts made up the engines of various vehicles he fixed. They made a routine of hearing about Luke and Leia’s lessons each day, wondering when the time would come to that mention of the Empire or the wars might enter their curriculum. 

However, their town was tiny, and the twins were very young. 

There would scarcely be any mention of the Empire at all for almost another full year.

  
  


················•·················

  
  


“Watch your feet, here — grab my hand.” Mufti groused, holding out a hand to help Anakin up onto the vaulted roof of the new barn. 

It was an excellent day for a barn raising. 

A blissfully cool day, despite it being the height of summer. White cottony clouds billowed overhead, breaking up the heat of the sun on the back of a fresh breeze. 

Half of the village had shown up to help lift the walls of one of the new structures on the Eli farm. In proper tradition, the family being assisted had provided food and drink for all the volunteers — most of which were lounging about on the grass far below, socializing and gossiping while the children chased one another about and played their games.

The hard part was done — lifting the walls in unison with the aid of ropes and pulleys so that they all stood and supported the weight of one another. Now all that remained was for a few men to secure the roof with nails and bolts. 

Anakin had volunteered to help, while Obi-Wan remained below with the twins. 

Mufti, one of the older farmhands showed Anakin how to place and nail in the pins so that the roof would stay secure in the years to come. 

“Sure, they’re happy enough now. It’s gonna break Eli’s heart to learn his kid’s got his future set on the stars rather than staying here to help him with the herd.” Mufti said somberly, nailing down a pin. 

“This town’s been dying for generations. Before, it was to the big cities. Now, it’s to the Empire.” 

Anakin froze, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the old farmer. He shrugged wearily and continued working. 

“Empire doesn’t use droids. Clones all got put out to pasture.” Mufti looked out tiredly over the fields, where the community’s precious few children were playing chase out on the grass. 

“Easier to reap from what they already think is theirs.” 

Down below, Luke was tagged to be ‘it’ by another one of the children, the sounds of their laughter floating up to where the two men sat on the roof. 

Anakin felt a cold grip seize his heart. 

  
  


-

  
  


“Your nightmares have come back.” 

“You noticed?” 

“It’s difficult not to.” 

Obi-Wan had waited until they had finished their chores for the day. The snow had fallen thick and heavy over the mountain. There were pipes to see to, firewood to chop, paths to clear. 

After a long morning in the snow, Anakin and Obi-Wan gratefully eased into the large, steaming tub to warm their numb fingers and sore muscles. 

Anakin settled back easily between Obi-Wan’s thighs, his back resting against Obi-Wan’s naked chest, finding a home for his head in the crook of his husband’s neck. 

“I’ve been using the Force to ease you back under before nightmares wake you.” He admitted. “But I thought it might be better for you to talk about it.” 

“Hm,” Anakin replied noncommittally, momentarily distracted by the sensation of Obi-Wan’s hands in his hair, combing the long curls he let grow wild. 

“It’s the same as it's ever been, I suppose.” He nuzzled in, his lips warm on Obi-Wan’s cool neck — tasting the steam condensing against the pulse of his throat. 

“The Empire?” 

“The Empire, losing the twins, the past, the future… take your pick.” Anakin groused. 

Since Mufti’s warning during the barn raising, the topic of leaving Alderaan to join the rebellion had naturally come up on more than one occasion between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Always in private, while the twins were at school or outside the house. 

Each time for slightly different reasons, but always ending the same. 

The question of the children, and what would be worse — to uproot them from their peaceful childhood for a life fraught with danger or even worse… to leave them behind?

  
  


-

  
  


On a cold evening — during the dreary stretch of winter just before spring — Obi-Wan and Anakin were jolted awake by a blinding lance of energy tearing through the force. 

Anakin turned to see Obi-Wan’s eyes wide, his mouth slack as the seismic crushing weight of the power radiating through the force threatened to overwhelm. He clutched at his chest, doubled over as if struggling to breathe. 

“What is—? It’s Luke!” Anakin realized, throwing himself out of bed. 

Obi-Wan felt the pressing crush of the Force like a physical weight on his shoulders. By the time he reached the twin's bedroom, Anakin was already at his son’s side shaking him awake.

“Leia?” Obi-Wan gasped. 

She was sitting on the other side of the room up in her bed, watching with wide unblinking eyes. 

“Luke had a nightmare.” She said, with a surreal sort of calm. 

“Luke!” Anakin tapped his son’s cheek with his palm, watching desperately as the boy’s blue eyes focused on him slowly. 

“Daddy? Papa?” He looked to Obi-Wan, who was standing in the doorway before slumping down in Anakin’s arms. 

The suffocating weight and press of the Force lifted. Obi-Wan took a deep breath, and then another. Anakin sighed heavily, sitting back on the bed and drawing Luke onto his lap, rocking him gently. 

Luke was likely getting too old for this sort of thing

“I had a bad dream... “ He mumbled blearily. “You had yellow eyes…” 

Anakin sighed out sharply, burying his nose in Luke’s soft cornflower hair, rocking a bit faster. 

“I… I know Luke.” His voice rasped. 

“You do?” There was an edge of panic to Luke’s voice. 

“And it's okay,” Anakin promised, squeezing his son tight. “It… it was just a dream.” 

“But this was different…” He protested, clinging to Anakin’s nightshirt. “You were hurting…”

Leia had gotten out of bed, padding across the room to curl up on Luke’s bed at Anakin’s side. 

“Daddy is alright now.” Obi-Wan moved to the end of Luke’s bed. 

The boy flinched as Obi-Wan touched his back — his muscles strung tense and tight. As the dream faded though, Luke relaxed. Leia rested her head on Anakin’s arm, touching Luke’s wrist. All four in contact with one another, wordlessly sharing Luke’s pain through the bond they shared until it dissipated into quiet peace — the fear banished from the warm room into the cold still night. 

················•·················

Two speeders tore down the long dirt road, kicking up high plumes of dust in their wake. 

Fortunately, a warm breeze on the late spring day carried it downwind, away from where Obi-Wan and Leia sat on a low stone wall on the side of the road sharing a picnic lunch. 

“We’ll scarcely see them all summer, I think.” Obi-Wan mused, unfolding some biscuits that had been folded up in a clean handkerchief. “Now that your father has someone to race with.”

“They worked really hard to fix those speeders up.” Leia shrugged, kicking her feet a bit. 

Down the road, the two could scarcely make out Anakin and Luke, both jumping out of their respective vehicles to whoop and high-five one another to celebrate their first successful run. 

“Ashmi was only a little older than Luke is now when he was doing pod races. Did we ever tell you that?”

Leia shook her head no. 

“Hm, no. I’d say he could probably tell the story better than I could. And he likely _would_ if I were to object to him letting Luke race in that thing.” 

Obi-Wan grumbled as Anakin and their son both got back in their speeders, gearing up for another race down the long stretch of road connecting their farm to the village. 

“Is there anything you would like to do this summer, Leia? Perhaps something you and I could do together.”

The young girl thought carefully, taking a sip of juice. 

“Well…”

-

“Ow! Do you have to tug like that, Ben?” 

“If you sat still, I wouldn’t be tugging, dear one.” Obi-Wan chided. 

“You gotta _hold still,_ daddy.” 

Anakin sat cross-legged on the bed — holding up a datapad with step-by-step instructions for Obi-Wan to see over his shoulder as he worked. Anakin’s hair was out of its usual bun, now down well past his shoulders and grouped into a number of untidy sections. 

Obi-Wan kneeled behind him, holding a few hairpins in his mouth — his face screwed up tight in concentration as he attempted the next braid. 

“Do my hair next!” Luke piped up, throwing his arms up onto the bed from the floor. 

“Your hair is too short, Luke.” Leia shot back, scooping up the various clips and hair ties before Luke could snatch any away. 

“ _-Kriff_!” 

“Language, Ashmi” Obi-Wan chided, completing another braid and twisting it into place. 

“I held still that time!” 

“Hm, yes — clearly I have a bit more practicing to do.” Obi-Wan drew back, considering the disaster that was Anakin Skywalker's hair. 

“I followed the directions perfectly, I’m sure of it...” He mused, reviewing the datapad. 

“Leia, what’s wrong with the way your hair is now?” Anakin asked, wincing as he attempted to extricate a ribbon twisted up in a lock of hair. 

“All the kids in school like Lori best because her mom does her hair up real fancy, like the ladies that live in the big cities.” Leia crossed her legs across from Anakin. 

“And my hair looks like _yours_.” 

Baffled, Anakin glanced sidelong to the floor-length mirror that sat in the corner of the bedroom — his hair currently a wild mop of half-done braids and pins. 

“I am _trying_ , darling.” Obi-Wan reminded her gently. 

“Here,” Anakin took the datapad from Obi-Wan’s hands, flicking through it. “Leia, what would you say to something more like this?” He settled on an image, handing it over to her. 

Leia sat up straight, eyes wide. “She’s pretty!” 

Obi-Wan craned his head over to see. It was a candid photo, of a woman standing on a balcony in Coruscant, her head half-turned. The style _was_ certainly leagues easier to replicate — two simple braids supporting a single bun with the rest of the hair flowing free. 

“That’s your mother.” 

Luke nearly knocked Leia over in a scramble to see the photo. 

Obi-Wan gently squeezed Anakin’s shoulder where his hand rested, placing a kiss on his temple.

  
  


················•·················

  
  


That summer the twins turned seven. 

Anakin and Luke continued to fix and race speeders. Heavy rains rolled off of the mountain, and heavy, humid conditions lent themselves to a bad season for the native ticks.

In addition to the chickens in the coop, Anakin and Obi-Wan purchased three pheasants to roam the property and take care of the bugs. They drew up vague plans for a small barn to adjoin the goat’s lean-to, with vague aspirations to have another go at more amiable animals to help cut down on time-consuming trips into town. 

Luke and Leia started their own smaller vegetable patch adjoining the main one, which had grown substantially over the years as Obi-Wan and Anakin got more familiar and efficient with what crops to plant when and where. 

They watched the leaves burst and stalks shoot up — practically more excited for the oncoming crop the fall would bring rather than school starting again. 

This year, in particular, the changing seasons had their own surprises to bring. 

  
  


-

“Empire Day?” Obi-wan asked, accidentally snipping off more than half of the mint plant that grew on the windowsill. His eyes immediately shot to Anakin, who had frozen halfway through his tuneup of R2. 

“Yeah. Ms. Tomi’s really mad about it.” Leia groused, throwing her school bad down and crossing her arms. 

“She said that we gotta do an essay about how the Empire makes our lives better,” Luke spoke up from the doorway, his mouth pressed into a thin, unhappy line. “I didn’t even know there was an Empire.”

“Some people from Juranno said we have to.” Leia looked pointedly at Obi-Wan, with a well-refined look she had developed over the years when she (often rightly) suspected adults were being unfair. 

“Yes, I imagine it wasn’t a part of your teacher’s original curriculum,” Obi-Wan said measuredly, looking over to Luke. 

As usual, their son soaked up the mood in the room like a sponge. He lingered in the door, stiff and bristled as he watched Anakin’s grip on his wrench tighten to a white-knuckled grip. 

“Anakin, can you go check on the goats please?” Obi-Wan said at once, turning to him. “I think they may have gotten into the vegetable patch again.”

“No, I think I want to hear more about this... _Empire Day._ ” Anakin turned to face the kids. 

Luke raised and lowered a shoulder, his voice quiet and small. “Brundi said that there’s gonna be a parade for Empire Day. Some big ships are coming from the Imperial City.”

“You’re not going to do that.” Anakin ground out, standing up at once. 

“We have to.” Leia, still grumpy about the prospect of having to write a paper in a single evening, turned to face him. “We have to write a paper _and_ learn a dumb song to sing at the parade for the people coming to visit.”

“And who is that, darling?” Obi-Wan asked calmly. 

Leia raised and lowered her shoulders in a shrug. 

“I dunno. Someone with a fancy name.” She looked to Luke, who was wringing the straps of his school bag.

“What’s the Empire?” Luke wrung the straps of his backpack anxiously. 

“Come sit down, children,” Obi-Wan said, taking down the kettle. “I’m going to make us some tea. In the meantime, why don’t you tell me what Miss Tomi told you when she explained the Empire?” 

Anakin did, in fact, leave — storming outside to go blow off steam while Obi-Wan made them all tea — adding extra honey and milk to Luke and Leia’s cups. 

“The Galactic Empire is the system of government currently presiding over most of the galaxy.” 

Obi-Wan explained carefully. He had laid up at night enough times to have it practiced in his mind. It still felt surreal to be speaking out loud, with Luke and Leia sitting across from him with wide eyes at the dinner table. 

Anakin had since returned to the kitchen, now peeling and disassembling the vegetables for soup stock with a little more vigor than was likely necessary. 

“It's a bit like how Ashmi and I are in charge of the house, but we still have to follow the rules that the town set up. Like how you can only hunt certain animals at certain times in the year.” He explained carefully. 

“So they can have their babies.” Luke piped up. 

“Yes, that’s right. The Empire sets up rules that _Alderaan_ has to follow. So they—” He sighed gently through his nose. “So they can say that you have to write an essay for _Empire Day_ , even though Ms. Tomi might not have planned to.” 

“Oh,” Luke murmured, taking a sip of his tea.

“That’s not fair.” Leia pressed her hands on the table. “Ms. Tomi is smart, she doesn’t need anyone telling her what to do.” 

A gourd in the kitchen was loudly split in half by the meat cleaver. 

“That is something some adults think too,” Obi-Wan said, very carefully. “The Empire is only about as old as you two are.”

“That’s why we’re not going to the parade,” Anakin spoke up, with a bite of finality in his voice.

“They’ll likely have a census of the town on hand,” Obi-Wan replied coolly. “We would do best to play the part and blend in.”

“You can’t be serious, Obi-Wan!”

“What's _Obi-Wan_ mean?” 

Both men froze, looking at Luke in horror. The twins looked back with a curious, expectant look. 

“Start your essays.” Anakin blurted out, grabbing Obi-Wan by the elbow and all but dragging him outside.

“This is getting more difficult.” Obi-Wan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Leia hardly misses a thing, and even when we _can_ keep our story straight Luke’s become so sensitive to emotions.” 

“I can’t do this,” Anakin buried his face in his hands, pacing on the porch. “Why in the world would you want to go into town when the Empire is there?” 

“They have no reason to suspect us,” Obi-Wan explained. 

He caught Anakin on the man’s second pass by the shoulders, giving him a supportive squeeze. 

“But it's possible that they _will_ if two of the fifteen school children this town has are absent. _Empire Day_ will be happening across the planet — the entire system. It’s utterly improbable that resources of any real significance will be wasted on a town like this one.”

Obi-Wan gave Anakin an encouraging smile. 

“I guarantee it, we will be _more_ than a match for anyone who turns up. Don’t you believe that?” 

“Of course I do,” Anakin realized as he said it, visibly relaxing. He melted under a soft kiss from Obi-Wan, leaning down into it. 

“There’s nothing we can’t handle, as long as we’re together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Visit [Crys](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/whohatessand) and [Jo](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/jswander) on tumblr! Come send us some asks and yell at us about the story! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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